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Engine 'Auto stop' feature.

Got HCH 2008 a couple of weeks ago. I'm very proud to be a part of very small but very sincere eco friendly community like you guys. Thanks for all the comments and suggesstions on HCH! I love this vehicle. I'm feeling my wallet way heavier than 2 weeks ago.. Now, I'm filling HCH once a week with 10 gals. vs. 5 times every 2 weeks with 17 gals

Does any one know how to trick auto stop feature in 2008 HCH so that it won't 'Auto stop' while stopped for a second or less? I think it is really annoying and waste of gas because I heard it burns as much gas to restart engine as to keep idleing the engine for a couple of seconds. is that true?

HCH goes to Auto Stop mode while going out of drive way, where Stop sign is not posted. Auto stop kicks in as soon as vehicle goes down to 1-3 mph. I admit, 'Auto Stop' feature is really a nice feature and it is very good for environment and for the wallet. Want to know, how much negative impact of frequent auto stop has on the life of the engine?

The autostop will allow you at most two stops if the speeds do not exceed 7MPH (12km/h). That means that in a heavy stop-and-go traffic pattern the engine may not autostop for quite a while. Many of us will allow a little more distance between our car and the one in front so that when it is time to move we may reach the 7MPH threshold. This works most of the time.

But for the times that it does not work, then the best thing is to FAS the engine OR switch the transmission to "N". When you are stopped (foot on the brake pedal) and you switch the transmission to "N", the fuel consumption rate is half of when it is in the "D" setting.

FAS, stands for "Forced Auto Stop" and it is used by some HCH-II hypermilers to achieve very high fuel economy (90+ MPG). IN FAS you key the car off after switching it to "N".

I would not worry about the auto-stop feature engaging for one or two brief seconds, it is designed to operate in those cycles without trouble. If you do not wish it to autostop just place the transmission in "S" or turn the defrost/defogger on.

The Auto-stop feature will not have a negative impact on the life expectancy of the engine... If anything, it will greatly extend the dependability of the engine as well as reducing the wear-and-tear factor which is typical of vehicles with standard starters.

I want to start off thanking

I want to start off thanking everyone on this forum for spending time to give wonderful information.
MSantos, can you give more detail about FAS?
We currently live up in Cooke City, MT at 7,600 and have been looking at trading our 2004 Honda Element to a Civic Hybrid or Prius. We are currently renting a Prius for two weeks but I have to be honest we are die hard Honda fans; we also have a 2006 Ridgeline. My question is FAS, we travel up and down the mountain each week to get supplies and I currently get 60+mpg without really trying in the Prius by drifting down the mountain in electric mode only, and at the bottom the battery is fully charged. (By Applying some driving techniques found on the web sites you recommend to my bike we went from 45 mpg to a true 60 mpg round trip to town) How will this work in the Civic. (Will the engine shut off while drifting 25 to 55mph for 6 to 7 miles? or will I have to put it in neutral and turn the key off?) It is kind of hard to tell if it would just on a test drive around Billings, MT where it is flat, that is why we rented a Prius for 2 weeks (They donít rent Civic Hybridís) to see if a hybrid would truly work in the mountains, and it seems to work great.

Steven:
FAS is an advanced

FAS is an advanced technique and as such it should be used carefully in situations where it is safe and legal to do so. My recommendation for it in a previous post in this thread is such a scenario.

In any case, the Civic Hybrid *may* require a bit more care than the Prius when driving in mountainous terrain. This is because it has a smaller battery and the depletion rate can be higher during a long and steep climb. If the climb is very long then both cars will suffer a fuel economy hit (obvious) but in general terms the behavior and approach of driving the Prius II is identical to that of the HCH-II.

Switching the Civic hybrid to neutral and using FAS is not a requirement for proper or efficient operation of the car when descending a mountain. In fact, you should not use FAS under such scenarios particularly when the vehicle is in motion.

The best intro to the Civic Hybrid II's capabilities can be found here:

Congratulations for your

Congratulations for your choice! I love the hybrid cars and I always wanted to buy one. I asked a friend for an advice, due to the fact that he sells Dodge Philadelphia cars, but he told me I should better wait until the prices drop. Definitely, the positive impact of these cars on the environment is worth buying one.

I admit that the HCH 2008 is

I admit that the HCH 2008 is a very good car. I have never encountered with this problem, because I drive a classic car, but a friend of mine who works at a car dealers Manchester NH agency once told me that there are very few things to do about that. I hope you can figure out by yourself.